Are enough Bloomfield streets defined for snow emergencies?

In the height of the Thursday, Feb. 13, snowstorm, ordinarily busy Bloomfield Avenue had little vehicular traffic. Pedestrians took to the street versus the unshoveled sidewalks.

During snowstorms, perhaps more can be done to ensure curb-to-curb clearing on certain Bloomfield roadways, according to Councilman Nick Joanow.

Regarding the back-to-back storms, "after the first one, it was all downhill," Joanow said at Tuesday's Township Council meeting.

There are 100 miles of road and 450 roads within town, Joanow said. "I suggest we review every one to determine which can be defined as snow emergency streets," he said.

He said that, by Sept. 1, the Bloomfield Public Works Department should provide a recommended list of streets to upgrade to that status.

While commending Public Works, Council Eli Chalet complained about private contractors pushing snow into Broad Street. It hurts access to businesses and makes it hard for pedestrians to cross the street, he said.

Councilman Joseph Lopez praised the Bloomfield Police Department after witnessing patrols asking residents, via loud speakers, to get their cars off the streets. He said he believed most citizens exhibited patience during the storm.

"In 18 years, this has been my roughest couple of weeks," Bloomfield Public Works Director Anthony Nesto told the council. It's close to 1996 in the amount of snowfall in a short amount of time, he said.

The director said that, due to the onslaught on storms, vehicles have broken down, and some employees clocked about 50 overtime hours in a week.

As of Tuesday, Public Works' concentration was to haul snow. Outside contractors brought a couple of loaders and extra dump trucks, Nesto said. The department was working with cooperating properties, namely public recreation and school grounds, to dump the snow, he said.

Much of the overtime is due to after-midnight shifts, when workers can tackle less-busy streets, the director said Friday.

"We definitely relieved stress in many areas, and the [significantly above-freezing] temperatures have helped" Nesto said at week's end. "I think our guys have gone above and beyond, and I'm not saying that just because I'm their leader."